Progressive 2016

Stone and Steel documents Big Big Train's return to live performance after many years as a writing and recording band. Released on Blu-Ray and high-definition download, Stone and Steel features performances of nine songs recorded live at Real World studios in August 2014 and four songs recorded live at the band's London gigs in August 2015 alongside interview and documentary footag…

UK artist and composer Steve THORNE appeared as a recording solo artist back in 2005, and have been releasing new solo material at a steady pace ever since. "Island of the Imbeciles" is his fifth and most recent one, and was self released in 2016…

Elyria is a female-fronted progressive metal band founded in 2012 and based in St. Gallen, Switzerland. It was originally meant as an experiment between guitarist Oliver Weislogel and vocalist Patricia Cooney with the purpose to catch Cooney’s lyrical texts in a progressive musical framework in order to translate them into catchy songs…

UK band Nth Ascension was formed in 2009, originally using the moniker Nth Degree, and solidified as a band unit in 2010. An initial demo was released in 2011, and in 2014 they signed to UK label Sonic Vista for the release of their official debut album "Ascension of Kings". In 2016 they left their former label to sign up for US label Melodic Revolution Records, who released their sophomore production "In Fine Initium". Nth Ascension is very much an English band, exploring landscapes and sounds that were invented and developed on the British Isles. Melodic, powerful progressive rock is the name of the game here, and then by and large explored inside a neo progressive general context. Their take on the genre is one that relies heavily on alternating, contrasting arrangements and a striking lead vocalist further enhancing the dramatic aspects of the compositions.

Despite showing a passport not so common in the genre, turkish band Nemrud develops an anglo-saxon type of Progressive rock, of the highest quality. One might even be reminded of Eloy's "Ocean" opus… This is no surprise then to learn that the leader Mert Gocay is a close friend of Frank Bornemann! "Journey Of The Shaman" (Musea Parallèle, 2010) is a first concept-album divided in three parts: "The Ground", "Underground", "The Sky". Here's the initiatic journey of the shaman, who needs to go underground first, to be able to eventually reach the Sky. This rock symphony is mainly instrumental, as the lyrics are often used in a spoken and meditative way. It's a very sophisticated music, based on Seventies sounds but with an excellent production…

Lakeshore Records presents Mr. Robot - USA Network's Golden Globe, Emmy Award-Winning Series.
"Elliot uses programming and social engineering techniques to seek and exploit weakness in computer networks, and I use programming and sonic engineering techniques to help enhance the emotional content of each scene," said Mac Quayle. "Armed with our computers and an arsenal of software tools, we both attempt to create and discover the right combination of notes (code) and sounds (keystrokes) that help tell the story (access the network)."
"For this soundtrack, the idea was to include as much music as possible from Season 1 and organize it chronologically by episode," Quayle described. He used an almost all electronic palette for the show, adding only one organic instrument - a piano…

Italian band NOSOUND was officially formed in 2005, albeit with roots going back a few more years, and the originally as the creative vehicle and one man band project of Giancarlo Erra…

"The Complete Bearsville Albums Collection" houses 11 Todd Rundgren studio albums inside a wonderful 13CD clamshell box. This boxset showcases the complete collection of Rundgren’s finest work released on the exceptionally cool Bearsville label; all studio albums apart from the epic double live set Back to the Bars, all solo, no Utopia LPs.
A pop savant who fastidiously avoided easy categorization throughout the course of his career, Todd Rundgren straddled the gap separating a mainstream star from a cult figure. Rundgren had plenty of hits in the 1970s and '80s, many of them becoming enduring contemporary standards, such as the Carole King pastiche "I Saw the Light," the ballads "Hello, It's Me" and "Can We Still Be Friends," plus the goofy novelty "Bang on the Drum All Day." These hits displayed his sharp commercial instincts, impulses he'd wind up subverting and tweaking on such heady '70s LPs as Something/Anything, A Wizard, A True Star, and Todd, records at the core of a discography…